The European Union has provided 19million pounds, about N5.6billion, grants to Nigeria through the National Planning Commission, NPC, to drive the diversification of the economy from oil to non-oil.
The Head, Trade and Economics Section of the European Union, EU, Delegation to Nigeria and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Filippo Amato, has said.
Amato, who spoke during the final national training on standards on code of practices for Nigerian agricultural products for exportation in Abuja, he said the grant was implemented through the Nigerian Private Sector Competitiveness Support Programme and aims to improve the business and investment climate through the improvement and implementation of regulatory reforms, especially in the areas of competition policy, land titling and business licensing with pilots in Kano State.
With Standard and Quality Unleashing the Potential of Agricultural Products to Grow the non-Oil Export in Nigeria as its theme, the forum was organised in partnership with the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON).
He said: “As you are aware, Nigeria in terms of population and economy is over 60 per cent of ECOWAS. The EU combined support to ECOWAS and Nigeria in the areas of Trade and Economic Development is over 1.3billion euros between 2008 and 2014.
“In energy, our current 10th EDF (European Development Fund) intervention is the Nigeria Energy Support Programme, that started in May 2014 and will finish in September 2017, with a 15.5 million euro funding from the EU. It is being implemented by GIZ. The project focuses on renewable energy, energy efficiency, rural electrification and technical skills development issues.”
“EU has helped Nigeria to establish the National Quality Infrastructure (NQI) working closely with SON, NAFDAC (National Agency for Food, Drug Adminsistration and Control), Consumer Protection Council (CPC), and other stakeholders to improve the quality of products manufactured, exported and exchanged in the Nigerian market and to protect consumer rights. In these projects, the EU is partnering with GIZ, DFID (Department for International Development) and UNIDO (United Nations Industrial Development Organisation).
